


Blue Neighbourhood

by Exstnce



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1950s, Alternate Universe - Historical, Bad Parenting, Based On a Troye Sivan Song, Betaed, British English, But also, Byun Baekhyun is Whipped, Fluff and Angst, Historical Accuracy, Historical Inaccuracy, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Manipulative Relationship, Mentioned Do Kyungsoo | D.O, Mild Sexual Content, Not Beta Read, Oh Sehun is Whipped, Period-Typical Homophobia, Songfic, Summer Love, but - Freeform, but just a lil bit - Freeform, but they're both 17, i'd like to apologise to Sehun's mum, i'm sure she's much nicer than i've made her in this, it's complicated ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-11
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-26 05:09:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19761241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Exstnce/pseuds/Exstnce
Summary: "Leave this blue neighbourhood,Never knew loving could hurt this good oh,And it drives me wild.Cause when you look like that,I've never ever wanted to be so bad oh.It drives me wild."- WILD, Troye SivanorA SeBaek summer love AU.orSummer always ends. So, too, do the things that happen during it.





	Blue Neighbourhood

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt Petal:** #17  
>  **Author's Notes** Thank you to the prompter for sending in Troye Sivan lyrics! I’ve loved his music for a long time and I’m glad that I got the opportunity to write a self-indulgent 50s sebaek fic bc of it lol! I used the lyrics to inform the dynamic between sebaek and the mood of the fic, rather than to have it be an obvious inspiration - I hope that’s ok! Also, there’s a particular part that is directly taken from the lyrics… I wonder if anyone can spot it!
> 
> I might expand on this fic/AU in the future, depending on how I feel.
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading what’s become quite a dear AU to me!

It was March 1957, and Baekhyun and his mother had just moved into a new town. Baekhyun knew no one, knew of nothing, and was completely alone in this place save for the company of his mother. Being a scared, lonely 17-year-old faced with the prospect of a whole term to himself before the final year of school, he made the decision to try and make as many connections as possible. This had never been difficult for him in the past, due to his loud, extroverted personality and natural knack for sensing people’s intricacies. 

It was during the second week of starting at his new school that he discovered that one of the boys in his year lived a few roads behind him. He set out to find this boy, and as it turned out, he was Baekhyun’s chemistry partner. 

Just as they were setting their books down on the desk at the beginning of a chemistry lesson, Baekhyun struck up conversation.

“So, I heard you live in my area!” The boy looked at him with concern, or maybe worry, knitted into his eyebrows. "Would you like to walk home with me after school?" Sehun kept the confusion set into his face, and Baekhyun wondered if he'd heard him at all. Just when he was about to repeat himself, Sehun spoke up. 

"I have to work after school." Baekhyun refused to let this deflate him. 

"Well, how long do you work for?" 

"About an hour." 

"That's no trouble, I'll wait for you to finish!" Sehun again looked confused, perhaps even more so this time. 

"You… Really don't have to do that." 

"No, but I want to!" Sehun flicked his gaze between Baekhyun's eyes before returning to their textbook bashfully. 

"Alright." 

***

“Byun Baekhyun! Where have you been? Don’t think I don’t know that school finished two hours ago!” Baekhyun’s mother reprimanded him as soon as she heard their front door open.

“Sorry ma! I was spending time with a friend from school!” Baekhyun shouted back, too caught-up in taking off his shoes and schoolbag to find his mother. After he’d settled in he located her in the kitchen poking at a plate of sliced tinned sausages and cabbage. 

“Your supper is cold by now.” She stated, waving haphazardly at a similar plate of food on the other side of the table. “But a friend already! What are they like?”

“His name is Sehun and he’s very quiet and he almost looks grumpy most of the time but he’s very funny and kind and he only lives a couple streets back! He works at a quaint little café after school, which is why I was late home. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was going to be late, I wanted him to see how genuinely excited I am to spend time with him.” Baekhyun unloaded onto his mother as he sat down and began cutting his sausages with the edge of his fork.

“That sounds wonderful Hyun-ah. Are you hoping to spend time with him again tomorrow?”

“Yeah, it’s really interesting finding out stuff about him!" He confirmed, wide eyes meeting his mother's briefly before beginning to scoff down his simple dinner. 

"I'm glad." Baekhyun's mother said genuinely, her eyes twinkling curiously. 

***

The next day, Sehun held an expectation in his heart that Baekhyun would approach him, the way most extroverted people do. However, he didn’t see Baekhyun at all at school. He ate lunch quietly with his closest friend, Kyungsoo, but couldn’t help but feel distracted all the while.

“Are you okay?” Kyungsoo enquired in his usually curt, no-nonsense fashion. Sehun looked back at him silently, embarrassed that his confusion was so evident.

“Yes. Just… looking for someone I suppose.” Kyungsoo nodded sagely, looking back down at his home-cooked meal. Sehun continued to stare at his friend for a beat, even after they had broken eye contact.

That day after school, Sehun found himself waiting instead of hurrying to work as he would usually. He watched idly as students hurried to buses and got into their parents’ cars, hitching rides with friends, and congregating in flurries to discuss the school day and goings-on outside of school. Sehun stood in his half-sleeved argyle sweater, clutching his books to his chest and looking like a lost child at a carnival, as if his school peers were oddities and curiosities dressed in glitter and sequins.

Suddenly there was a fierce push against his back and he stumbled forwards, feeling two hands steady his shoulders from behind.

“Sehun! Waiting for me were we?” Sehun could hear the smile in Baekhyun’s voice. His cheeks flushed.

“N-no!” He rushed to say, but didn’t find an excuse to explain why he was waiting.

“Okay…” Baekhyun started, feigning conviction. “Well, since we’re both here, why don’t we start walking together?”

“That would make sense.” Sehun nodded, and they began the short walk to the café.

It was easy to talk to Baekhyun, Sehun learned. When Sehun was lost for words, Baekhyun had an abundance. When Sehun spoke, his shyness was almost commanding, and Baekhyun could do nothing but listen until he was finished. Baekhyun always made sure to balance the topic between him and Sehun, but never pushed when he felt resistance from Sehun. Their walks were pleasant, and always passed far too quickly for either of their likings.

Once there, Sehun carefully took his bag into the closet that was ambitiously called a staff room by the café owners, donning his work apron and beginning to serve the few customers that came in. While the cafe was empty Baekhyun would ask about his interests, his ambitions, his family. On the days when the café was too busy for them to talk Baekhyun would get out his school books and try to do his homework. Although, he’d find himself spending a lot of time just watching Sehun bashfully talk with the customers, pouring coffee and serving home-made cakes. Among the coffee machine steam and clatter of cutlery Sehun was a spectacle, his usually quiet and antisocial demeanour shifting into a natural ease with people.

Weeks went like this, and to have a day pass without Baekhyun by his side after school was strange to Sehun, so used to his loud, goofy presence. One day, after Sehun’s shift for the day had finished and they were walking back home, the weather was particularly perfect. The wind was balmy, the sun was just setting, and there were thin strands of sunlight spilling through the tufts of Baekhyun’s chestnut-coloured hair. It was a strangely warm day for mid-spring, but Sehun had always preferred the warmer months, so he didn’t mind it. Suddenly their conversation had stopped, and after only a few moments of relative silence - save for the chirping of crickets - Sehun heard it.

_Darling you send me_

_I know you send me_

_Darling you send me_

_Honest you do, honest you do, honest you do_

Baekhyun had given up asking Sehun questions to sing instead. His voice was deeper than Sehun had expected, and smoother than he could have ever imagined. Like warm honey, he remarked to himself. It’s easy to see why, in a halo of sunlight with the voice of an angel, Sehun was overwhelmed by Baekhyun’s presence. So overwhelmed, in fact, that he found himself grabbing Baekhyun’s face and rushing to kiss him, so enthusiastic that he knocked them both into a chain-link fence. He quite enjoyed the warmth he felt in that specific moment; from the sun, from his heart, from Baekhyun’s lips, but a small part of him started to view them from the outside, the way a passer-by would. They wouldn’t see warmth. They wouldn’t feel it. 

The thought tore him away from Baekhyun, dragging his eyes down to his feet. His formerly curious hands were now stuck to his thighs, his arms like planks of wood at his sides. He muttered apologies to the ground, at first scuffling back but then kicking into a full run, all before Baekhyun had a chance to stop him.

Staring after him in shock, Baekhyun touched his lips gently with his hand, taking a slow step homewards before continuing on his walk, too many thoughts clouding his mind.

***

Baekhyun tried to go to Sehun’s house - knocked on _every_ door asking for Oh Sehun - until he found the right one. Sehun’s parents were, in a (very kind) word, suspicious. When he asked for Sehun, the woman, presumably his mother, narrowed her eyes and brought her arms to rest across her immaculately pressed dress. She seemed to be the kind who thought very highly of herself and very lowly of anyone else, her hair pulled tightly into a low bun and her lips drawn even tighter into a distrustful sneer. After being asked why he wanted to speak to Sehun, Baekhyun explained that he thought he had upset him and wanted to apologise. Sehun’s mother did not take kindly to this, dismissing Baekhyun by explaining that Sehun seemed perfectly happy doing his homework, and then asked Baekhyun to leave their property, an abundance of distaste poorly concealed in her words.

Although this reception was far, far less than satisfactory to him, Baekhyun followed her orders, not wanting to cause a fuss. Maybe he’d have pushed further, had he known how elusive Sehun would be from then on. He avoided him at school, having moved chemistry classes and no longer waiting after school for him. (Baekhyun was forced to admit this begrudgingly on the first day, when he’d waited half an hour outside the main doors of their school in vain. It had been difficult to explain to his mother why he was back home earlier than usual.) He’d even quit his job at the café, the owners informed him when he’d walked there himself one day. He tried a couple more times to ask for Sehun at his house, but the welcome he received was always the same - cold and stony. 

Baekhyun spent almost all of his time trying to figure out why on earth Sehun would kiss him and then never speak to him again. That, and the thought of more kisses with Sehun, holding his hand, holding him close to him… Maybe he thought about him more than he’d care to admit. In his world of confusion he knew only one thing: not being able to even _see_ Sehun ached.

Baekhyun was moping around town one day, kicking stones with his shoes, when he suddenly felt a strange craving for something sweet. He stepped into the first corner shop he found and developed an interest in their PEZ display, ogling at the spaceman dispenser he’d seen advertised on the television and the prized space trooper dispenser that was locked in a clear dome atop the display holder. It was only when he heard a familiar voice that he looked up from the PEZ display, his ears growing red when he saw Sehun after all this time. 

Sehun was wearing a white shirt, tie, and a brown apron while ringing items into the till for an older woman, who seemed very fond of him. For a time Baekhyun just stared, committing his face in this moment to memory in case this was his last chance. All of a sudden, Sehun met his eyes and Baekhyun could see him visibly prickle. Baekhyun saw him begin to run into the back room, but he was faster and managed to catch his arm before he lost him.

“What are you doing?” Baekhyun started, his heart working faster than his head.

“I don’t know what you mean.” Sehun responded, and Baekhyun could see fear spark in his eyes. Baekhyun huffed, pulling him into the back room so that they had more privacy.

“You know darn well what I mean Sehun.” He searched his eyes again, but they stayed resolute. “Why would you kiss me and then leave? After all the time and… _trust_ we put into each other?” Sehun looked terrified, sticking his head out the doorway of the back room to check if there were customers in the shop. There weren’t. “After all the hours I spent sitting in that café _waiting_ for you, after all the times you _told_ me that you enjoyed my company, that you were really, truly grateful for my efforts! What was that, Sehun? Were you lying?”

“No!” He tried to assure him.

“Then why? What possessed you to completely ignore me out of the blue and, not even that, avoid me at every possible moment?” Sehun stood in front of Baekhyun, shock rendering him unable to do anything but take everything Baekhyun was screaming at him. His gut twisted at his sharp words, and he felt stupid for kissing him. “What-” Sehun hears a sniff and feels wordless, “what did I do? Please, just, at least tell me why.” Baekhyun finished, tears spilling out of his eyes in unforgiving globs. Sehun’s heart pulled at the sight. Then, he realised that Baekhyun _didn’t_ despise him, that he actually _enjoyed_ the kiss.

He couldn’t help himself. He started to laugh.

***

After a hearty telling-off from Baekhyun, Sehun ended his shift early. They decided to meet in the woods, and the day was just as beautiful as the first, when Sehun had kissed Baekhyun. The sun was just setting, leaving everything with an orange glow - especially, Sehun thought, Baekhyun. They found a clearing deep enough into the forest for both of them to feel comfortable and then Sehun settled down to explain everything to Baekhyun. 

He told him about his parents, and how they were not only incredibly protective of him, but also incredibly against homosexuals. How they’d threatened him after Baekhyun came for him that day, and after that they had hidden everything Baekhyun had been telling them. He told Baekhyun that he’d been grounded, and was only allowed outside to go to work or school, and when at school he was to focus on his studies only. Sehun apologised profusely after explaining, never having thought that he would have wanted to speak to him again after he kissed him.

Baekhyun, upon hearing this, was rightly furious. He took Sehun’s hands in his own, and when he sensed no resistance, he brought his hands to his lips, kissing them gently as his eyes fluttered shut.

After a lot of disagreement, they agreed that Sehun would quit his job at the corner shop, and spend the time with Baekhyun instead. Baekhyun refused to accept no as an answer, and told him he’d work to get Sehun the money he would have been earning. 

“You can’t give up your free time just because my parents are overprotective.” Sehun argues.

“It’s not fair for you to have to be treated like a prisoner just for spending time with someone.” Baekhyun reasoned back. “Besides, being able to spend a few hours with you every other day is worth every minute of work.” He maintained eye contact with Sehun while saying this, even as his cheeks darkened. Sehun couldn’t argue with that look, and conceded.

***

Having to ignore Sehun during school hours was hard, but manageable if it meant being able to spend time with him alone. When they were alone in their little enclave is when Sehun came into his own. Baekhyun chalked it up to the fact that when they were in the forest they were completely alone - the likelihood of someone spotting them being minimal, so Sehun could afford to be himself without the worry of word getting back to his parents. They would meet for two hours on Tuesday and Thursday, and for four hours on Saturday. These days would quickly become Baekhyun’s favourite days, and he found that the only thing he ever seemed to look forward to was the time he got with Sehun.

In order to maintain the ruse that Sehun was working while he was with Baekhyun, he packed a change of clothes into his school bag on Tuesday and Thursday, and left them in a rubbish bag next to the school bins off-grounds. He would come home with his bag, change into his work uniform, go to the bins to collect his change of clothes, and change wherever he could find an isolated place. The first couple of times he tried to change, he did so in the woods with Baekhyun there. Both boys felt shy about this, as Baekhyun kept peeping at him when he took off his shirt.

On Saturday, Baekhyun brought his own clothes, the biggest ones he could find (Sehun was a half-head taller than him after all, and his shoulders were unfairly broad). Sehun couldn’t bring his own clothes without his parents suspecting something, and Baekhyun enjoyed seeing Sehun wearing his own clothes. It was almost romantic, Baekhyun choosing outfits for Sehun every Saturday.

They spent time hidden away like this, holding hands in the woods, staring up at the sky on clear days, sometimes Baekhyun would even get Sehun to sing with him for a bit. It was easy to get lost in the company of the other this way, away from prying eyes and judgemental glances.

One mild, unassuming Saturday Baekhyun made a wonderful mistake. Usually he’d pack a top, some bottoms, occasionally some accessories, sometimes a jacket or cardigan. On this Saturday, he’d decided to pack a leather jacket, just to see how it would suit Sehun. He hummed on his way to their spot, his backpack bouncing on his back as he bobbed up and down on the balls of his feet. Sehun had arrived on time, and finally he got to pull out this week’s outfit for Sehun to try. Only, when Baekhyun went to pull out the top aspect of his chosen outfit, it wasn’t in his backpack.

He scolded himself for being so forgetful, and started to turn towards Sehun to tell him that he’d run home and grab the shirt when he saw that Sehun was already ahead of him. He’d already gotten changed into Baekhyun’s outfit, having forgone a shirt entirely. Baekhyun stared at Sehun’s chest, curtained by the black leather of the leather jacket. There was Sehun - shy, gentle Sehun - in a leather jacket and blue jeans, looking like the kind of boy who’d slick back his hair in the school toilet and sneak out of his parents’ house to smoke cigarettes with his friends.

“Well, this is quite a step up from your usual outfits.” Sehun quipped, a shy smirk gracing his face. The only thing keeping Baekhyun sane was the disconnect between this version of Sehun and his usual, sweet Sehun. As soon as the dorky Sehun appeared all traces of restraint shattered as he strode towards Sehun, doing what he’d been wanting to do for so long.

He kissed him.

It was hasty, Baekhyun holding Sehun’s cheeks so tightly that he was squeezing his face into a small pout. Sehun, throughout this, was shocked. He supposed he shouldn’t be, seeing as this wasn’t their first time. Nevertheless, it felt different somehow. When Baekhyun finally pulled away, Sehun was still astonished. Baekhyun had just kissed him. _He_ had kissed _him_. Before he could reconsider, Sehun had lurched forward to kiss Baekhyun for the second time that day. Sehun felt Baekhyun’s hands graze his chest, shivering at the coldness of his fingertips.

They pulled away from this slowly, hesitantly. Baekhyun looked up, slight breathlessness making him pant lightly. He saw Sehun’s facial expression and shivered again. Within the privacy of the trees, Sehun felt a streak of confidence that would have otherwise escaped him.

“Do you… want to do something? With me?” Baekhyun, too dazed to pick up on the implicit message, blanked. Sehun took one of his hands and led it to his crotch, and Baekhyun could feel his erection already present.

“Oh.” Baekhyun muttered eloquently.

Sehun had really grown to adore nature as he spent more and more time with Baekhyun. The trees couldn’t scold him. The grass couldn’t sneer. The wind couldn’t guilt him. The world around him in the forest went about its business, protecting them from other people with its vast trunks, its great canopies, its chirps and its whistles and its croaks. For a few hours every other day Sehun and Baekhyun could be in their own private world.

Baekhyun’s breath caught in his throat when he got to see almost all of Sehun - his chest, his stomach, the smooth curve of his inner thighs. It was overwhelming for him,and he found himself latching onto Sehun’s jaw. Sehun had to stop him before he left a mark, redirecting his mouth to his own to preoccupy him while Sehun made quick work of Baekhyun’s own trousers. Baekhyun made an effort to help by unbuttoning his flannel shirt, opening the front but keeping the shirt on his shoulders. This time it was Sehun’s turn to gape. Bekhyun’s body was somehow soft and hard at the same time. He was lissom, like a newly blossomed flower. 

Sehun was very careful and gentle, and eventually they ended up sitting across from each other with their legs crossed. Their heads were resting on each other’s shoulders, and they had each other’s dicks in their hands. It was strangely intimate, feeling someone’s hand twisting and stroking while their breath fanned your neck. They each led the other through their own euphorias, lost in a selfless pursuit of the other’s happiness.

They lay in their glade, their own little piece of heaven trapped on Earth, entirely spent and blissfully warm - both from the sun’s setting rays and the company of each other. They were both so relaxed, in fact, that they fall asleep there, hands intertwined and backs leant against a strong oak.

***

When he woke up from their dream of a Saturday, Sehun found himself jumping into a nightmare. He looked around himself, seeing the sun completely set and the moon pouring her light on the leaves of the trees covering them. They’d been out for far too long.

Sehun, not thinking to wake Baekhyun up, patted the ground around them for his watch. When he finally located it, he saw that it had been eight hours since he had left.

Panic set into Sehun’s bones, his eyelids feeling suddenly heavy and his breath catching when he tried to breathe normally. He picked up his work clothes, dressing quicker than ever before, and pressed a hasty kiss to Baekhyun’s sleeping cheek before he ran towards his house, tears already pricking at his eyes.

When Baekhyun woke up it was late. He could see that the moon was centred in the night sky, and suddenly he felt the chill of the night scratch into him. Hugging himself, he sat up to look around for Sehun, only to find that he wasn’t there. Baekhyun couldn’t help but worry for Sehun, nor could he stop himself from worrying about their future together. Baekhyun hurriedly picked up his clothes that he’d brought for Sehun, finding comfort in that, wherever Sehun was, he had enough time to change clothes.

Baekhyun walked through the door and his mother met him, embracing him tightly and crying into his shoulder, asking him where he’d been and if he was alright.

Sehun walked through the door and his mother met him, hurling abrasive words at him and jabbing her arms towards him like she wanted them to continue and pierce through him, asking him where he’d been and how he could manage to be so selfish and insolent.

***

After this, for the second time since they’d known each other, Baekhyun didn’t see Sehun very often. Except this time, Baekhyun didn’t see Sehun at all. He was never in school, and no longer had a job. No matter how hard he looked for him, Baekhyun couldn’t seem to find him anywhere.

He waited for Sehun in their clearing the way he did before for the first few weeks after his disappearance, but eventually the school year came to an end, the temperature climbing and the days lengthening, and every place Baekhyun looked was devoid of Sehun.

When the last day of their penultimate day at school rolled around and Sehun was still nowhere to be found, Baekhyun made up his mind to search for him in the only remaining place it made sense to - his house.

Standing a few doors down, Baekhyun surveyed the building. He knew he couldn’t just knock on the front door and ask for Sehun - he’d tried that before and it’d ended in Sehun getting hurt. No, he’d have to devise something slyer than that. He glanced over the house, analysing the window placements, the locations of different rooms. He circled round to get a better view of their backyard, seeing a patch of perfectly manicured grass, framed by a multitude of elm trees. Slowly but surely a plan developed in Baekhyun’s mind.

When he first devised his plan a feeling of anxiousness set over him, but was cast aside by that stubborn sense of determination that seemed to overwhelm him whenever something came to Sehun.

***

Sehun sat in his room, humming to himself melancholically and jabbing the pencil he was holding down at the paper on his desk. He'd never needed loci and Pythagoras before in his life, and he was doing alright in spite of them. He was spectacularly bored and faced with a whole page of mathematical equations that seemed to be jeering at him. 

He missed Baekhyun, and had also missed the last day of junior year. Sehun didn't have an abundance of friends in school, but he missed Kyungsoo and his teachers and generally felt outcast by not being present among his classmates. With only being allowed to see his parents and his brother having his own life on the other side of town, Sehun felt lonelier and lonelier without someone from the outside to remind him that he's _not_ alone, and that the way he feels about Baekhyun _isn't_ inherently wrong. 

It was during this onslaught of maths problems that Sehun could swear he started hearing singing. Not the singing of a drunken man, or the singing of an innocent, naive child, but a smooth, controlled kind of singing. The kind he was sure he'd heard before. He recognised the song and rushed to his bedroom window in callow optimism. 

_Darling you send me_

_I know you send me_

_Darling you send me_

_Honest you do, honest you do, honest you do_

Opening his window quietly, he looked out at the trees framing his backyard. Suddenly he saw him, and had to hold back the tears that insisted on falling from his eyes. There was Baekhyun, perched on a tree, his head tilted back and resting on the trunk of it, his eyes closed and his eyebrows knit together in concentration. Sehun looked behind him in panic, before whisper-shouting towards him. 

“What are you doing here?!”

Baekhyun, who somehow picked up on his words from across the yard, shook his head and raised his finger to his lips to shush him. Instead, he brought out a notebook and pen and started writing in it. 

_I MISSED YOU_

Sehun could do nothing but stare for a moment. He was relieved that Baekhyun hadn't forgotten him, and felt guilty for leaving without a trace _again_. All of a sudden he left the window, frantically searching for one of his (seemingly hundreds of) notebooks. Once he settled on one, he stumbled back to the window, madly scrawling. 

_I'M SO SORRY_

He looked out at Baekhyun, and just saw him firmly shaking his head once again. Sehun began writing before Baekhyun could. 

_MY PARENTS WON'T LET ME LEAVE THE HOUSE_

_I FEEL LIKE A PRISONER IN MY OWN HOME_

Baekhyun, even from a few metres away, could see Sehun's eyes dampen and his heart clenched. 

_I'M SORRY THAT I NEVER GOT TO EXPLAIN_

_I'M SORRY FOR DISAPPEARING AGAIN_

By now Baekhyun could also see Sehun's tears blotting the ink he was writing with, accenting his messages with a visible splash of emotion. Baekhyun wrote back. 

_IT'S OK. IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT_

After a short pause, Baekhyun added. 

_IS THERE ANY WAY TO GET YOU OUT?_

Sehun speedily wrote back. 

_YOU THINK I HAVEN'T TRIED?_

Baekhyun didn't respond to this, instead staring back at Sehun with resolution painting his face. Sehun gave into that stare. 

_MY PARENTS ARE GOING OUT THIS WEEKEND FOR A CONFERENCE_

When Baekhyun looked victorious, Sehun was fast to remind him of his parents’ manner. 

_THEY'LL LOCK ALL THE DOORS BAEK_

_THEY'LL KNOW IF I LEAVE_

_IT'S LIKE THEY CAN SNIFF OUT DISOBEDIENCE_

Sehun could see Baekhyun scrawling, and waited curiously to see what reply he had so quickly when it had taken Sehun days of scheming without success. 

_OF COURSE THEY'LL KNOW_

Sehun was anxious, holding his breath subconsciously. He wasn't expecting Baekhyun to give in that easily, but he could see Baekhyun continuing. 

_WHAT IF YOU JUST LEFT_

Sehun wasn't sure he knew what Baekhyun was saying, so he didn't respond. 

_COME LIVE WITH ME SEHUN_

Sehun felt like his heart had actually stilled in his chest. He felt too much at once, and dropped the notebook and pen so he could brace himself against the windowsill. His head was ducked as he tried to even his breathing. He knelt down and picked up the notebook again. 

_ARE YOU INSANE?_

Sehun saw Baekhyun's face fall slightly before a small, impish grin took place. 

_ONLY WHEN IT COMES TO YOU I SUPPOSE_

Sehun felt his cheeks flush rosily before he felt his face split into a grin. 

_WON'T YOUR PARENTS BE SUSPICIOUS?_

Baekhyun was fast to answer. 

_MOM ISN'T LIKE MOST PARENTS_

Sehun wasn't sure what was meant by that, but he was running out of pages in his notebook and began to feel paranoid about his parents spotting Baekhyun outside, so he decided not to pry. 

_WHEN DO YOUR PARENTS LEAVE?_

Sehun replied dutifully. 

_9AM_

Feeling a sense of pride at his resourcefulness and the sight of Sehun's face lit up and happy, he confirmed their plan. 

_I'LL COME GET YOU AT NOON ON FRIDAY_

_BE READY TO LEAVE BY THEN_

Sehun nodded back, and hesisted before signing off. 

_FRIDAY NOON CAN'T COME SOON ENOUGH ♡_

Baekhyun smiled. 

_UNTIL THEN HUN (SEE WHAT I DID THERE)_

Sehun couldn't stop himself from laughing at Baekhyun's stupid pun. 

“Sehun? What's going on up there?”

Sehun had almost gotten lost in his and Baekhyun's world, and had forgotten that he was still a prisoner to his parents’ tyranny. His face set in terror as he shooed Baekhyun away before rushing back to his desk, trying his best to look engrossed in a page of triangles. 

Sehun's mother opened his bedroom door without warning, eyeing Sehun suspiciously. Sehun looked back at her for a second, before returning to his work. Sehun's mother walked across the room, closing Sehun's window, as she scorned him. 

“Keep the windows closed. We don't want insects getting inside.”

***

It was hard for Sehun to wait for Friday to come. He was too excited to focus on any work his parents wanted him to do, and all he could think about was running away with Baekhyun. He was so excited to get away from his own parents that it made him marginally sad. 

While Sehun's parents were informing him of what food they'd prepared and all the house rules that he was to follow that Friday morning, Sehun was unusually chipper. 

“Don't think that just because we won't be home that the same rules don't apply. No leaving the house unless you need the emergency services. We expect to see enough work done.”

“I know, mom. Enjoy your conference.”

“Love you dear.” She said right before placing a chaste kiss on the top of his head. 

“Love you.” Sehun repeated back, but the words felt empty. 

As soon as he saw his parents’ car leave their driveway and plod down the road, disappearing into the sky stretching out above him, Sehun ran up the stairs to start packing. 

When it had turned eleven-thirty Sehun was ready at the door, checking for the umpteenth time that he'd packed everything he wanted. He had a backpack filled to the brim with neatly folded clothes, some of the sandwiches and meals his mother had prepared for him, and a couple of sentimental knick-knacks. Sehun didn't know how he was going to escape, but in his mind he was too nervous and excited and anxious to think about practicality. 

Noon rolled around excruciatingly slowly, and ten minutes had passed when Sehun began to panic that Baekhyun wasn't being serious about his offer. Sehun's worries got the better of him, as they taunted him about being foolish for believing there was anyone willing to save him at the expense of their own safety. Sehun's eyes filled with globs of tears, his shirt crumpling from his clenched fist holding his chest suffocatingly tight. His breaths quickened and his vision blurred from the wetness, and it was at this point that he heard a cautious knock on his front door. 

Stopping suddenly and hastily wiping the tears from his eyes, Sehun ran to unlock the door. There was Baekhyun, so close after all this time, and hardly any time passed between Sehun seeing him and throwing himself into Baekhyun's arms.

Sehun and Baekhyun stayed there, holding each other for what felt like hours, before Baekhyun pulled Sehun away from him to look at his face. 

“Have… Have you been crying?” Sehun switched focus from one of Baekhyun's eyes to the other and back before avoiding his stare completely, whispering to the ground,

“I missed you so much and… I'm scared Baek.” Baekhyun looked back at him with sympathy filling his eyes. 

“It's ok Sehun… You'll be alright now.”

Baekhyun steadied Sehun by holding him by his elbows, taking him through the process of leaving step-by-step. ("Where's your bag? Upstairs? Let's go upstairs then.") Eventually, Sehun was physically ready. He was shaking, sure, but his heart and his head were agreed on this decision. Every time silence fell upon the two of them and allowed malicious thoughts about how Sehun's parents would react upon discovering that he was gone to plague Sehun, Baekhyun would sense it and distract him by making conversation or rubbing soothing circles into his skin. 

Baekhyun suggested that Sehun write his parents a note explaining that he was alright so that they wouldn’t worry at least. Sehun agreed wordlessly, and they went about drafting Sehun's note. 

> _To Mom and Dad._
> 
> _I'm not sure how to start this. I suppose the best way is to be direct, so:_
> 
> _I'm leaving. Permanently._
> 
> _I'm so so thankful to you both for bringing me into this world and for giving me food, shelter, and everything I needed to grow up healthy and strong. But I can't see myself living in this house with the restrictions you put on my life._
> 
> _I was looking forward to spending my last year of high school among my peers, but you wouldn't let me have that. Although the hours were long and the shifts were boring, I enjoyed working part-time and you too took that from me. At this point I feel like a prisoner in this house, not having anyone to truly confide in and trust._
> 
> _What hurts the most though, is the thing that coincidentally ties these things together. You two cannot find it in yourselves to support who I choose to spend my time with and become close to._
> 
> _I truly hope that in time you'll learn to trust my decisions and respect me as my own person, and not an extension of your relationship that you get to control._
> 
> _Please don't try to look for me, I'm safe and I don't want to be found._
> 
> _Thank you Mom. Thank you Dad. I love you both._
> 
> _Sehun._

After Sehun was happy with the letter, he signed it and folded it, placing it on the dining room table where his parents would find it easily. 

He looked back at Baekhyun, and seeing his smiling face lifted his spirits a little. 

"Ok Baekhyun. I think I'm ready." 

***

The walk to Baekhyun's house was a slow one, feeling much longer than it actually was. When they got to the front door, Sehun was shaky and suddenly nervous about making a good impression on Baekhyun's family. Baekhyun squeezed his forearm to calm him and then the door swung open, and there stood a woman looking a tad disheveled and covered in flour, but with a bright smile on her face. 

"Hyun-ah! There you are! I thought you'd never come back, taking so long to pick up that boy," she turns her kind smile to Sehun, "Sehun, isn't it? I'm so glad to finally meet you!" She leaned closer to him and covered her mouth so that Baekhyun couldn't see it. "He talks about you all the time you know." 

"Mom! Can we come in please?" Sehun could hear the panic in Baekhyun's voice and it pulled a smirk from his face. 

Smiling, Baekhyun's mother moved aside. "Of course, boys. Baekhyun, show Sehun his room." Baekhyun nodded, taking Sehun up the stairs into a small room that looked like a converted study. 

"Sorry, it's not very big…" Sehun shook his head wildly, setting his backpack down on the bed and dropping down onto it, bouncing a few times with the springiness of it. 

"I wasn't expecting the Ritz.” Sehun assured him, taking in the walls and smiling.

Baekhyun left when he heard his mother call him from downstairs, letting Sehun get comfortable in the room. He took his time touching the walls and opening his new window to take in a breath of air. He smiled to himself when he remembered how his mother would tell him to close his window, always having been nervous about bugs getting in. He started putting his clothes into the dresser, and perched the family photo he’d packed on top of the dresser. The photo was taken years ago, back when Sehun’s older brother was still a child and everyone was younger and more carefree. Back before his family was burdened with the weight of academic expectations and love.

He smiled sadly and, when he smelled food, made his way downstairs. Baekhyun and his mother were rushing around each other, scrambling to finish setting up the table for lunch.

“You know Sehun, from this day on you’re not just a guest - you’re part of the family.” She smiled at him again.

“She’s only saying that so you’ll set the table for her tomorrow-” Baekhyun grinned at Sehun, receiving a light smack on his arm from his mother, who looked horrified at her son’s outburst.

Eventually they all settled down around the table, engaging in comfortable conversation. Sehun forgot about leaving his parents, leaving his brother, leaving everything in that moment, just content to feel like part of a family again.

_Several years later_

Baekhyun pulled the car onto the curb, stretching his limbs and looking expectantly at Sehun. When he saw a blank face looking back, he sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Sehun, go.”

“I am going!” He assured, but made no effort to move. Baekhyun gave him a look. “I’m going!” He turned to the car door, hovering over the handle before turning back to face the windscreen. “It’s been so long Baek. They might not even live here anymore. They could hit me as soon as they see my face. Oh god... what if they’re dead.” Baekhyun rolled his eyes again, gripping the front of Sehun’s shirt and pulling him towards himself to shut him up with a kiss.

“Baby, just go already. This was your idea.” Sehun seemed to annoy even himself at this point, and all of a sudden threw open the car door, stepping out and marching up to the front door. He stopped right before knocking, looking back at Baekhyun’s smiling face and thumbs up for strength. With a deep breath, he knocked on the door.

To his shock, the door opened, and there stood his mother. After all these years he thought he’d gotten over missing her and the crawling feeling of guilt. She looked at him sans expression, and called out for his father, eyes never leaving his face. Sehun wasn’t even sure he saw her blink once. He saw his father come down the stairs, with Sehun’s older brother in tow, to his surprise.

Sehun’s brother was the first to embrace him. He pulled him against his chest hard, pushing away to hit his arm and remarking how long it’d been since they last saw each other. Sehun flinched, but smiled, and returned his brother’s sentiments. When he looked back at his mother she had tears in her eyes, even though he could see that she was desperately trying to keep them at bay. Surprisingly, out of his parents his father was the first one to properly greet him on his return. He held his hand out steady, and shook Sehun’s hand firm and warm when he offered it to him. Sehun’s mother embraced him then, and Sehun could feel her tears on his shoulder.

“Come inside and catch up, it’s been so long.” Sehun was just about to do so when he paused. He looked back at Baekhyun, and rolled his eyes when he saw him look away rapidly after being caught staring. He looked back at his parents, and it seemed that they realised what he wanted to ask even before he did.

“Only if _he_ can come in too.” Sehun didn’t miss the flash of doubt and… _fear_ in his mother’s eyes, but she agreed.

Sehun walked back to the car gaily, almost at a skip, and knocked on the car window. Baekhyun looked confused, but leant over the passenger seat to roll down the window.

“What happened?”

“They invited you for dinner.” Sehun couldn’t repress the smile smothering his face. Baekhyun looked less pleased, and more horrified.

“I can’t meet your parents like this! I haven’t showered today! I haven’t shaved yet! My hair’s still messy from earlier! Sehun I’m a mess I’ll make them change their minds about being open-minded they’ll take one look at me and go ‘gosh I thought gays were supposed to be stylish who’s this hobo our dearest Sehun’s taken with-’” Baekhyun panicked as he watched Sehun round the bonnet of their car to open the driver’s seat and stand there, waiting. “Fine. Fine! But you’re covering for me if they ask any questions about why I look like I travelled here via _bush_.”

Sehun’s family watched this endeavour from such a distance that they couldn’t hear what was being said. 

“Lord, what if he doesn’t want to meet us? He seems very reluctant-” Sehun’s mother fell apart uncharacteristically upon watching the discourse.

“It’ll be fine mom, just let it happen as it does.”

Baekhyun and Sehun arrive, eventually, at Sehun’s family home doorstep together.

“Baekhyun, this is my family - this is my dad, and this is my older brother. I think you’ve already met my mom.” Sehun added on carelessly as an afterthought. Both Sehun’s mother and Baekhyun looked uncomfortable for a beat. “Family, this is Baekhyun, my _steady_.” Despite himself, Sehun still found himself blushing at the word.

“It’s lovely to finally meet you.” Baekhyun offers after a beat of silence.

“It’s taken me too long to allow it. Please, Baekhyun, come have dinner with us.”

**_FIN_ **

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading until the end! This didn't entirely come out how I expected it to but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless! For anyone wondering, the song that Baekhyun sings is You Send Me by Sam Cooke, which was an actual song released in the late 50s that reached number 1!
> 
> I'd like to thank the mods for being so so patient with me - I'm awful at sticking to deadlines and this has been very clear in my participation!! I'd also like to thank my beta for helping me out with how America works and generally being someone I could go to when I was questioning things like how old the word "sophomore" is. I haven't been posting a lot recently, so I'm hoping that this can be the start of a healthy new habit of writing without holding myself to super high standards!
> 
> Thank you again and I hope to see you again soon!


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